Nick Bell (born 14 August 1980) is an Australian businessman who founded & co-founded over 12 companies both locally & internationally. Bell founded his first digital agency with $400 in 2008 and now his group of companies exceed revenues of $100 million. Nick has been listed on the BRW Rich List three times with a net worth of $170 million.[1]

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Born in country Victoria, Nick was raised on a small sheep and cattle farm. He attended Mowbray High School, then went on to Victoria University, Australia. His business ventures started at a young age, when he decided to barter off sandwiches to school friends to fund an overseas trip. Admitting to never being very study driven, Bell obtained a 57/100 for his high school entry score, before spending six months working at various bars across London. When Bell returned to Melbourne, he attempted to get back into study and spent six weeks in a business degree before dropping out.[2]

At age 24, Bell launched his first business selling skincare products to treat acne, but it was ultimately unsuccessful.[3] Following this, Bell went on to teach himself search engine optimisation for websites, which led to him establishing WME.[4] WME was founded from Bell’s home and is now spread across 8 countries, with over 700 employees working between the various offices.[5]

ASX listed company Melbourne IT acquired 1/3 of Bells digital group (WME) in May 2017 for $39 million.[citation needed]

Bell is a serial investor with over 27 angel investments to date, such as Removify, Tribegroup.co & Vervoe.com.[6][7] These investments include a Melbourne-based app development company called Appscore.[8]

Bell has been featured in numerous articles where he talks about low university entrance scores and how they shouldn't impact students' futures. He has been quoted as saying that a high tertiary score and university degree are not necessarily essential for business success, it comes down to the individuals use of common sense & work ethic..[3]